Johannesburg - After nearly a year and at a cost of more than 2 million rand (£220,000), the presidential AIDS panel has produced a report characterised by disagreement and almost certain to further confuse the South African population on the scourge in its midst, writes Patrick Laurence.
The panel consisted of more than 30 experts on AIDS, local and foreign. It was controversial from the start because of the disproportionate representation accorded to dissidents who question and, in some cases, even reject the view that AIDS is caused by the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV). They accounted for about a third of the members.